Nettled
by harukafics
Summary: Kaidoh borrows Inui's sweater but it meets with an accident.


This was the result of what started out as a fifteen-minute word challenge, but ended up going much longer than that. The challenge word is stated at the end of the fic.

Nettled (Prince of Tennis)

By Haruka (email: haruka at ymail dot com)

* * *

Kaidoh shivered and went into the locker room. It was getting cold out and he had forgotten his jacket at home. He remembered Inui-senpai's caution about not letting his muscles get cold, and since he was about to start a match, he needed some sort of covering ...

He spotted a neatly folded sweater in Inui's box. It was one of the school sweaters, so it was all right to wear it on the court. He pulled it out and put it on. Inui-senpai wouldn't need it until the next day - he had gone home early. Kaidoh knew he wouldn't mind, especially if he laundered it before bringing it back.

"Mamushi, hurry up!" Momoshiro yelled. "I don't have all day to play this game!"

"I'm coming, shut up!" Kaidoh took one last moment to enjoy the feeling of having Inui's sweater against his skin. He blushed as he thought that it was almost like having the older boy's arms around him.

"MAMUSHI!"

God, that guy was annoying! "Fsshhuuu! I'm coming already!" Kaidoh stomped out onto the court.

For the next little while, the two thirteen-year-olds battled it out in tennis, but then one of Momoshiro's Dunk Smashes sent the ball flying right out of the court and into the field behind the school.

"Aw, we'd better go get another ball," Momoshiro said.

"I saw where that one went, I'll go grab it." Kaidoh headed around the fence. "Next time try to keep it inside!"

"Hey, you shouldn't go in there," Momoshiro called through the fence. "All the plants with the nettles are out now!"

Kaidoh couldn't hear him over the nearby traffic. He strode into the field.

Almost instantly, he regretted it. Sharp thorns were stabbing at his ankles, but he was sure the ball was nearby. He kept going.

He heard a rip and realized that one of his pant legs had been torn on a bush. There were nettles clinging to the rest of the material.

But there was the ball, nestled in the middle of the bush!

Carefully, Kaidoh reached in. The ball sank a little further down as he rustled the branches and he reached further for it. Suddenly, he overbalanced and fell forward.

Momoshiro heard Kaidoh yell, and ran around the fence to help, but stopped short of the field. "Mamushi, you okay?!"

Kaidoh hobbled back toward him. Fortunately, he only had two small scratches on his face and some on his hands, but his clothes had protected the rest of his skin. However, his pants and Inui-senpai's sweater were in tatters.

"MAN, you're a wreck! You look like a war orphan who barely survived the blast!"

"Shut up!" Kaidoh slammed the ball into Momoshiro's hand, then spread his arms wide. "This was Inui-senpai's sweater! NOW look at it! What am I going to do?! I don't have any money!"

"Oh, you poor neglected child!" exclaimed one of two women passing by as she put something into Kaidoh's hand. He looked down in surprise at the thousand yen note.

Her friend added another bill on top of it. "What a pity, he's so young, too!"

"What the -?" he started to say as they walked away, then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked into the concerned face of another stranger.

"Get something to eat, boy, and use the restaurant's bathroom to wash out those cuts before they get infected." The man walked away, leaving a couple of other bills in Kaidoh's hand. He faced Momoshiro in astonishment and his teammate shrugged, grinning.

"They must think you're a homeless kid or something," he said. "You ARE pretty dirty and ratty-looking." He shouldered his tennis racquet and headed back toward the school. "I think we'd better call this match over, anyway. You need to go get cleaned up."

That was true, Kaidoh thought, gazing down at the money in his hand. But there was something else he needed first.

* * *

"A new sweater?" Inui said in surprise, looking at the package Kaidoh handed him the next morning.

"I accidentally ruined yours yesterday," he admitted, shame-faced. "I'm sorry."

"That's okay, I'm just glad you're all right." Inui tenderly touched Kaidoh's cheek, tilting his head to examine the scratches. "How did you get those?"

"Hey, Inui-senpai!" Momoshiro greeted as he entered, eyes instantly going to the new sweater. He smiled at Kaidoh knowingly. "Did you find that money grows on trees? Or maybe on street corners?"

Kaidoh flushed crimson. "Shut up and learn to keep your Smashes within the fence, idiot!" He stomped out of the locker room while Momoshiro laughed and left with his gear. Inui scratched his head and looked down at the sweater.

"I have the feeling I'm missing a piece of important data here."

* * *

(Word challenge – Tattered)

(2005)

Prince of Tennis belongs to Konomi Takeshi.


End file.
